Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Shredded Comes Out Today!!!!

Hi Everyone!

I am so, so, so excited for you to meet Z and Ophelia!!! For me, Shredded is one of those books-- I struggled with it while writing it (Z's not an easy guy to get to know) but now that it's done, I love it so much, and really hope that you will, too!

To celebrate Shredded's release, I'm putting up an exclusive excerpt every day this week-- culminating with an excerpt from Book 2, Shattered, on Friday of this week. So remember to stop by and take a look! Here's a link for Amazon and here's one for Barnes and Noble, just in case you're interested ....
XOXO

Blurb:In this intense and exhilarating New Adult series debut, a hotshot snowboarder and a rebel with a cause try to let go of the past—and find a future with each other.

Twenty-one-year-old professional snowboarder Z Michaels is the bad boy of Park City, Utah. He’s always had his pick of any girl in town—and on the competition circuit. But underneath his cool exterior is a young man in turmoil, trying to take the edge off tragedy by overindulging in sex and shredding the slopes. In fact, Z’s rash behavior is a thinly veiled attempt to blunt his emotional suffering with physical pain.

Ophelia Richardson isn’t like any girl Z has ever met. Though she’s from New Orleans, she’s no Southern belle—and she’s not shy about being miserable in frozen, godforsaken Park City. But after nearly dying in the same drag-racing accident that killed her boyfriend, she needs a place to heal, both physically and emotionally. The last thing Ophelia wants right now is a boyfriend—especially one as rich and reckless as Z. But Ophelia soon discovers that he isn’t what he seems. If anything, Z may be even more damaged than she is.

Feeling alone in the world, Z and Ophelia find a connection unlike any they’ve ever known. But their tormented pasts pull them in every direction, forcing their relationship into a downhill slide before it even begins—unless they can find the strength in each other to trust, grow, and love again.

Advance praise for Shredded“Z from Tracy Wolff’s Shredded is so hot he will melt your heart!”—New York Times bestselling author Monica Murphy

“Shredded features two gorgeously damaged characters and an amazingly written story that kept me on the edge of my seat! Love it!”—Toni Aleo, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Assassins series

Excerpt

He doesn’t react right away. And when he does, it’s not at all the way
I expect.

Maybe it’s the insulated snowboarding pants or maybe it’s his too-cool
attitude, but Z doesn’t screech or yell or even curse. He just looks at me,
that too-gorgeous-for-his-own-or-anyone-else’s-good face of his frozen in
surprise. Whether it’s because I dumped the drink on him or because he’s
finally figured out that I played him, I don’t know and I don’t care. All that
matters is he gets the message and leaves me the hell alone.

Still, some instinct deep inside me whispers that not much surprises
him. The fact that I did makes me happier than it should.

And then he smiles, and I know I’m right. Because it isn’t that
come-sit-on-the-big-bad-wolf’s-lap-and-let-him-take-a-little-bite-out-of-you
smile that he leveled at me a few minutes ago, the one that weakened my knees
and nearly melted my brain cells along with those of every other female in the
vicinity. No, this is a real smile. A genuine grin ripe with amusement, speculation,
and something else I can’t even begin to identify.

But whatever that unknown thing is, I’ve been around the block
enough to know that I’m in trouble. That this meeting probably won’t end well
between us. At least not for me.

Still, what was I supposed to do? Stand here with my heart pounding
and my knees knocking together like some kind of ripe-for-the-picking damsel in
distress?

Throw myself at him like every other girl in a hundred-mile radius
does?

Let him think I’m going to be just another notch on his snowboard?

I don’t think so.

I did what had to be done, nipped his totally impersonal pursuit in
the bud before it got completely out of hand. It’s not that I think I’m in any
danger of falling for him—rich, pretty boys like Z make me break out in hives, especially
when they’re adrenaline junkies. But still, I’m not taking any chances.

Not after what happened in New Orleans.

Just the thought of Louisiana, of Remi, has my stomach churning and
my chest aching. I’ve been doing so well, too.

Minding my own business.

Getting my life back in order.

Looking into classes at the community college so I won’t be stuck in
this dead-end job—this dead-end life—forever.

At least until Mr. My-Balls-Are-Even-Bigger-than-My-Bank-Account here
comes along and decides to mess with me just because he can. Fury burns through
my veins at the thought, and I glare at Z. Suddenly I’m itching to dump another
cup of coffee on him. One that isn’t iced this time. But I need this job, and
already people are pointing and staring. If my aunt or uncle passes by and sees
all the commotion, I’ll be out of another job. And seeing as I’ve already gotten banished
from the gift shop and
one of the restaurants in the twelve days I’ve been here, I’m kind of running
out of options.

Annoyed but resigned to doing some kind of damage control, I pull
out a clean rag from under the counter and thrust it toward him. “Here. You can
use this to clean up.”

“I’ve got it, thanks.” His grin widens, and it only ticks me off to
see that my ire amuses him. At least until he reaches for the back neckline of
his shirt and pulls it over his head in one smooth movement. By the time he
starts dabbing at his black pants with it, my anger is a thing of the past. And
so are my brain cells.

I can’t help it. I try to stay pissed, but it’s hard to actually
formulate thoughts—any thoughts—when I’m confronted with a half-naked Z.

I mean, the guy’s an alien. He has to be, because human beings just
don’t look like this. At least not outside of magazine shoots and Hollywood
movies. And maybe not even there.

Despite the winter weather, his skin is a soft, golden bronze that’s
a testament to just how much time he spends outside with his shirt off—despite
the snow. His arms are big, his shoulders well developed. And his abs. Omigod,
his abs are a work of art. Forget six-pack. This guy has an eight-working-on-ten-pack,
and for a second—just a second—my eyes nearly cross as I imagine what it would
be like to lick a path straight from his collarbone to his navel.

He shifts a little under my scrutiny and for the first time I notice
the scars he’s got—on his arm, his chest, over his ribs, down the side of his
abs. Way too many scars for a normal guy to have. But he isn’t a normal guy, I
remind myself. He’s a snowboarder, one known for taking crazy risks and doing
really wild stunts. Is it any wonder his body is so torn up?

Not that the scars make him look bad. Just the opposite. Somehow
they only reinforce the beauty of all that hard-packed muscle and golden skin.
The same way his ink does. I try to look away, but I can’t. I’m fascinated by
the tattoo that covers the entire right half of his upper body. It’s a wall of
tribal-looking flames in shades of black and gray that start somewhere below
his waist and lick all the way up to his shoulder, over his pec, and down his
right arm. It’s beautiful, really well designed, and sexy as hell. On his left
side is another tattoo, this one a bunch of words in a fancy black script that
I’m too far away to read. But I want to. Suddenly I’m dying to know what words
are so important that a guy like Z would brand himself with them.

Something tickles the side of my chin and I have an abrupt,
mortifying fear that it’s my own saliva. That I am literally standing here
drooling at the work of art that is Z Michaels. I dash my hand over my chin
just in case. Turns out I haven’t lost complete control of my salivary
glands—it’s just a lock of hair that escaped from my bun.

The realization snaps my brain back into action. A few seconds too
late, but I’m a big believer in better late than never. Or at least I am now.

“You know, we have a rule here at the Lost Canyon coffee bar,” I
tell him with a little flick of my fingers. “No shirts, no shoes, no service.
You should probably go take care of that somewhere else.”

The dark eyes he turns on me are filled with disbelief and maybe,
just maybe, a hint of respect. I’ve spent days watching how the female
population around here responds to this guy, and I’m pretty sure that I’m the
first one to call him on his shit since he hit puberty. Possibly even before.

Just look at the girl he came in with. He was all over her when they
first walked into the lodge, just like he’s been every time I’ve caught a
glimpse of him the last few days. Not that I was looking for him or anything.
But still. Then, within five minutes of being here, he’s hanging out with
another girl—the trashy-looking one who threw herself in his path like a pilot
on a kamikaze mission.

Though, to be honest, it’s hard to blame him for the second girl.
Whoever she was, the look she’d given him had told Z loud and clear that she
didn’t mind if he climbed on right there in the middle of the coffee bar. My
only surprise was that he hadn’t taken little Miss Can’t-Open-My-Legs-Fast-Enough
up on the offer.

Not that it’s any of my business—at least not until he came up to
the counter and started in on me. I don’t care if every other girl in town is
okay with whatever tiny piece of Z she can sink her claws into. I don’t play
that way, even if I am interested in a guy. Which, in this case, I definitely
am not. After what happened with Remi, there’s no way I’d touch this guy with a
fifty-foot pole.

“Wait a minute,” he asks when he finally gets his slack jaw working
again. “You’re refusing to serve me, even though it’s completely your fault
that I’m shirtless?”

“First of all, I offered you a towel. You’re the one who decided to
take your shirt off. Second, I’m being generous and not charging you for the
spilled drink. And third, I don’t make the rules. I just follow them.” Again, I
flick my fingers at him like he’s a particularly annoying gnat. “So move along
before someone from management sees you and has you removed from the building.”

He snorts, like even the chance of that is too far-fetched to
contemplate. Which it probably is. My aunt and uncle love the fact that he
comes here to practice with his friends. At dinner the other night they were
talking about how to convince him to sign on with them like his friends had. So
far they’ve offered him everything but part ownership in the lodge, and he’s
turned it all down.

Must be nice to have so much money from endorsements and
sponsorships and family that you can just walk away from a shitload of it for
no reason at all.

“Management is going to remove me from the building?” he asks incredulously. “You’re the
one who just dumped a drink down my pants.”